Second Sunday Brunch Bunch: Malai Kitchen

For this month's Brunch Bunch, we opted for a more unusual location...Malai Kitchen. 

When I think of brunch, Thai/Vietnamese food does not immediately come to mind. But you shouldn't judge a brunch book by its cover, because Malai does a fantastic job of putting an Asian twist on all-American brunch classics. For example, their version of a breakfast sandwich is a Ham and Egg Banh Mi, made with a Vietnamese baguette, ham, egg, cucumbers, spicy aioli, Sriracha, cilantro, and Thai basil. 

Before delving into the delicious food options, we ordered a plethora of delicious cocktails, including Bloody Marys, Mimosas, Vietnamese Limeade (house-infused green tea vodka, lime, palm sugar, and mint), and a Ginger Bird Margarita (tequila, lime, agave, muddled ginger, and Thai chiles).

To start, they brought out sticky rice with a spicy eggplant dipping sauce. The sauce doesn't look very appealing, but I promise that it is quite delicious. 

Sarah ordered the chicken Pho Bo, which she very much enjoyed.

 Jill and Erin both got the Thai Eggs Benedict, which is described as "Scratch Coconut Biscuits piled high with Spinach, Thai Basil, Shrimp, and Poached Eggs with Thai Chile Hollandaise." They both raved about the dish, particularly the coconut biscuits.

Note that Jill ordered ham on hers instead of shrimp because she was a little too hungover for shrimp :).

Finally, Laura and I both ordered the Banh Mi French Toast, which is made with a thick-sliced Vietnamese baguette and comes with flambeed bananas and coconut syrup.

I can't tell you how good this french toast was. My only complaint was the puny amount of potatoes on the side. But the ridiculously good coconut sauce totally made up for that. 

If you are looking for something different for your next brunch, I highly recommend Malai Kitchen. It won't disappoint.

Other October Happenings

We had a super busy October this year! In addition to our fifth anniversary, a State Fair day, Kate and Ellie's birthday party, a trip to the zoo, Ava's daycare fall fiesta, and Halloween, we enjoyed many more fun activities throughout the month, including... 

National Night Out

We celebrated National Night Out at our neighborhood cookout. We loved seeing our neighbors, especially the Solomons, and Ava loved getting to try her first hot dog and Bluebell ice cream!

Texas/OU Weekend

Texas/OU weekend is always a fun (and crowded) time in Dallas, and this year was no exception. Our friend Quentin was in town from Georgia, and he stayed with us for the weekend. I didn't manage to get any pictures (shocking!), but we met up with a group of friends for a fun dinner that Friday night.

Then I dropped off Josh, Q, and Adolph at the Fair grounds around 8:00 a.m. on Saturday so they could meet up with the rest of the crew and get plenty of beer drinking and fried-food eating in before the big game. Luckily for them, it was a great game!

Lily's Tri Delt Initiation

As I have mentioned before, my youngest sister pledged Tri Delt earlier this fall. As a very proud sister and Tri Delt alum, I headed over to TCU for her initiation in October. It was so special to watch her go through the ceremony, and I even got to pin her!

After taking some pictures at the "Delta Shelta," we headed to Tillman's for a celebratory brunch.



Sisters in more way than one.

I love walking around the TCU campus. Parts of the campus have been completely revamped, and parts look just as they did when I arrived 13 years ago...



Trip to Austin

I had a work retreat one Saturday in Austin, so it was the perfect excuse to head down with Ava for the whole weekend. It was also perfect timing, because it was Hannah's 25th birthday, and both she and Lily came down from Fort Worth for the special occasion.

My Mom and Jimmy watched Ava so we could enjoy a fun family dinner with the birthday girl.



In addition to introducing my Dad and Rhonda to the wonderfulness that is tapas, we consumed quite a bit of sangria...which is always a wonderful thing.

And Hannah and Sara decided it would be a good idea to have a sangria-chugging contest. I think they may have regretted that decision later.



Ava also got to spend lots of time hanging out with family that weekend.

Thanks to Hannah for the next series of pictures, taken with her new fisheye lens. We made a trip down the street to Maudie's, and Ava didn't want let go of her pancake for the rest of the morning. 

Pumpkins!

Ava had so much fun picking out some pumpkins for the house. 

And I had so much fun arranging them. I love the fall.

Randomness

The cute new hairdo courtesy of Ava's teacher.



Two NuhNuhs are better than one.



Ava's first (and most likely not the last) crayon graffiti in the house.



An evening stroll with Bunny.



October really is my favorite month of the year. I'm sad it's over, but it's now time for the holidays!!

Ava's First Report Card

Josh and I recently met with Ava's teacher for our first Parent-Teacher Conference (I think that means we are officially adults). Ms. Paula had nothing but wonderful things to say about Ava and how well she is adjusting to the class and the Spanish immersion program. We left the meeting as very proud parents.

We also got her first report card. Here's to hoping that they are always this good!

Featured on We Heart Parties

I feel so honored that Ava's Winter ONEderland birthday party was recently featured on We Heart Parties! It was included as one of the "5 Best Winter ONEderland Parties."

So very cool. And to think that Josh just wanted to have the party at McDonalds ;).

I really love the We Heart Parties site...I highly recommend it if you are in need of some party inspiration. There are so many fabulous ideas, which I will be perusing soon in preparation for Ava's second birthday (eek!). 

There's No Crying in Baseball

I have always loved Halloween...the candy, the costumes, the spooky decorations...and it is even more fun now with a child who is (kind of) old enough to enjoy the holiday. 

I couldn't help but pack a cute Halloween-themed lunch for Ava. She probably didn't even notice, but it was fun to put together nonetheless. 

I didn't want to send Ava to school in her costume (it clearly would have come home covered in who knows what), but she loved her glow-in-the-dark "Trick or Treat" t-shirt. 

And speaking of her costume, I think we succeeded in topping the Princess Leia outfit from last year (which was tough!). Our adorable little Rockford Peach...

A League of Their Own is one of my all-time favorite movies, and the costume turned out even better than I had imagined. It was almost too much to handle. 

I found the dress and hat patch on Etsy, the red hat on Amazon, and the red socks at Old Navy. UPDATE: There are a bunch of vendors selling these costumes now, including this adorable one from KaiKai Creations. 

We borrowed a baseball glove from her cousin Jack, but it didn't stay on for long.

As soon as Josh got home from work, we headed out to trick-or-treat. 

Ava was ready to go!

We had practiced saying "Trick or Treat" for a few weeks...

And she loved saying it at each house. I was so proud of her. 

The Leos family joined us as well. 

Ollie was dressed as an adorable little dragon. 

The kids with all their loot...

But the night wasn't all smiles. There was a little crying in baseball :).

Daycare Fall Fiesta

The same day as our trip to the zoo, Ava's school hosted a Fall Fiesta to raise funds for books and other literary supplies. It was such a fun event, complete with delicious food, lots of games for the kids, and a fabulous mariachi band. 

Ava dominated the duck game.

Ava was too young to participate in the piñata hitting, but was certainly entertained by all the action.

We had so much fun, and I continue to be super impressed with her new school.